Morphologically, they are designed for carnivorous predation. They are homoeothermic, heterotrophic, consumers. Adults mass 200kg and stand 2.5m tall. They are bilaterally symmetrical. Jaibok have a digitigrade stance, with broad clawed feet and four toes. Their mouth is located in the head. The buccal cavity is filled with rows of sharp teeth. The hands have two fingers and two opposable thumbs. Analogous to, two sets of pliers sitting side by side. Their predominant sensors are located in the head. They have keen olfactory senses. They have low frequency biased hearing and extremely low frequency, infrasonic rumbling as their main form of communication. Their voices sound very deep and rumbling. You can feel their speech in your chest and across your flesh. They have pads in their feet to detect these tremors reverberating through deck plates on starship hulls. Jaibok can use this to detect structural weaknesses and micro-fractures in stressed hull metals because the hulls don’t sound right. As a result they frequently don’t wear shoes. Their space suits and combat armor have foot sensors to replicate this. Their own endoskeletal system is resonant and is used as a receiver array. Their flesh is acoustically transparent to low frequency sounds but tends to block higher frequencies. Some theorize this may point to an aquatic evolutionary precursor. The two sets of eyes, two have binocular forward arch vision which covers the forward 180 degrees. Their second set are more lateral and cover the rear half, so they can process imagery in a 360 degree panoramic. Rapid motion in their field of vision tends to startle them and can trigger very aggressive behavior. Diplomats are cautioned to move very slowly around them to avoid provoking a bloodbath.

They have a closed circulatory system with four pumping hearts, each with three chambers. These are arrayed in the thorax, two are lateral and two are dorsal. A thick cartilaginous mesh sheathes their mesentery layers. The augmented bone structure to bipedal locomotion seems artificial in origin and the body plan was probably a quadruped. A ventral spiny keel developed to support and protect the abdominal organs. Rings of hydrostatically adjustable cartilaginous rings point to a more segmented body plan as an ancient evolutionary hold over. Lung tissues are paired with the four hearts, the lungs encase and surround the hearts. They breathe with a sequenced series of rapid inhalation has two dorsal lungs inflate and then the laterals and then the exhale in the same pattern. This gives them a respiratory delay in their speech patterns. It is usually sentence, breathe, breathe, and then sentence.

They lack chewing abilities and the teeth cut and tear but prey is swallowed in large chunks. They are feast and famine hunters. Huge meals punctuated by periods of fasting and digestion over time. Powerful enzymes and digestive juices and acids break food down slowly over time. After eating they slow down metabolically as energy is shunted to digestive organs. Hungry adults get quicker, smarter and are very cunning. They can eat 20kg of meat in a single feast and then fast for a week. The lengthy digestive process is problematic because while their process is very efficient and they produce very little waste, they do not deposit fat reserves very well. They have a cyclical metabolism, once food is gone they NEED to eat. They will also starve to death relatively quickly if more food can’t be acquired. During starvation they become increasing unstable mentally, the first two weeks they are fine, and very focused. Every day after that they become less stable and more aggressive. Cannibalism is possible. Lowberths are often reserved for the unstable until they can be fed and stabilized. After a feast they recover quickly. They don’t heal well unless well fed. Surgeries and medical procedures have to be very carefully scheduled with a mind toward their dietary requirements. Culinary arts are mostly unknown among them. Freezers full of raw meat are thawed aboard ships as needed. Fruits and vegetables are essentially unknown. Dietary supplements are seldom necessary. Current medical practice requires that any young unfit for service are recycled and are illegal to raise.

Mating is annual, and fraught with danger. Group chemical cycles trigger mating behaviors and hormonal cascades. There is a selector gene among the population. These individuals are sterile and can not reproduce. They are typically a small percentage of any population but their numbers rise when populations begin to drop around them. They have the ability to trigger mating behavior in other chemically receptive individuals. Once triggered the adults of at least twenty six years of age mate with the selector. This switches off cognitive functions and forces the adult into a completely instinctual behavior pattern. This triggered adult then selects, often at random, another triggered adult. These two mate. Multiple matings are possible and multiple partners are common. This lasts about a week, during which time they do not eat. At the end they become ravenous and feast for several days. Then they pass out. Within their bodies hundreds of fertilized “zygotes” are forming. They parasitize all internal organs and begin to grow and develop. Twenty to twenty four weeks later hundreds of tiny 25g young emerge. The young completely consume the gravid adults. The result is a huge multiplicative effect with the potential for explosive population growth in a very short amount of time. These fry, are a very dangerous life form and swarms of them are voracious predators in their own right. They are completely instinctual at this stage and non-sentient. They are often treated as pests. In more wild areas they are released into ecosystems. This can have devastating effects if left unchecked with appropriate carnivores adapted to deal with the young. In more ancient times this process started at much younger ages. They have been genetically modified to post pone this process until they have achieved at least 100kg of body mass. During prehistoric times selectors could trigger large numbers of adults. Now strict legal caps limit the numbers of triggered adults allowed, based on governmental quotas. Left to nature, selectors would trigger 10-20% of any adult population they came in contact with. The young grow explosively as long as food supplies hold out. After five to six years of rapid growth they reach a key maturation phase. Their body coloration changes dramatically and the camouflage patterns of stripes and spots fade. At 0.75m in height and 49kg in body mass they hibernate for a week and then emerge as the pale gray awakened. They form cooperative gangs of awakened. These groups seek out adults. They approach the nearest group of adults, with plaintive low rumbling distress calls, unabated. These calls tend to trigger maternal instinct in a percentage of adults 30-38 years of age and 160kg or larger. They begin a nest building phase and begin to brood. The maternal instinct makes groups of adults of a similar age group up. They become very communicative and fiercely protective of the young. They bands of nurturing adults hunt for the young. In modern societies they seek group housing and form “family” groupings. These awakened groupings vary in size with the population density of the species. Groups formed from awakened young and brooding caregivers can be up to 120 individuals with twenty percent of that being care giver adults. These groups are the basis for all enterprise, cultural and societal functions. Adults of less than 30 years are usually in training or employed in high risk jobs. After thirty they want to settle down and secure territory for a group brooding. They become very inventive and industrious at this stage. Young stay with their family until age fourteen and then are expected to leave and get jobs so that the cycle can continue.

Competition for food and resources leads to conflict and usually death. This serves as a check to their population growth. They are not long lived. They do not experience an aging crisis. They are fully functional and continuously growing until shortly before death. In their modern technological and scientific society organic biomass resource reclamation and recycling are normative and socially acceptable ways to deal with these issues. The largest and most powerful members of the society top out at about 66 years of age and then rapidly decline. Elite military formations of these elder monsters are greatly feared. They have nothing to lose. There is no retirement and no term limits for them as a result. No one lives past seventy standard years without extensive anagathic and cybernetic enhancements. Some of these senior citizens are used for gladiatorial battle for an honorable death. Their metabolic clock surges toward the end as resources are spent and their bodies burn out. Joints fail, and muscular bundles destabilize. Mental faculties get muddled and rage prone. The system is optimized to pinnacle and then perish.

The nature of the reproductive cycle gives them several interesting behavioral imperatives. Death is necessary for rebirth. Death of fertile adults yields great reproductive potential. This is all unlocked at once and only once in the lifetime of a few. These chosen few sacrifice for the future of others. A sacrifice they will not benefit from.
Reproduction is not associated with pleasurable activity. Once selected and triggered your life is literally over. To be called to reproduce is a sacrifice for the species. The condemned and criminals were selected for a long time, but as genetic engineering technology became better understood, the necessity of variation in gene flow cautioned against a type of artificial selection and breeding. Famous and influential public figures who are defeated and captured are often reproductively selected now. In an "all is forgiven" gesture, to insure their contribution to the survival of the species. Altruistic sacrifice for the glory and honor of the species as a whole is innate and natural for them. Their warrior ethos is unmatched. Combat loses have nearly no effect on their morale. Hordes of young swarm targets, pulling down larger prey items, instinctual and non-sentient. Over running infantry targets as adults is practically in their genetic code. They don't need to be taught to fight, they must be trained to restrain themselves. They must learn patience and control. They must learn when to release their potential to do the most good and not to squander their opportunities. Parental units seek to protect and nurture the species as one larger united organism. The induced flaw prevents extremely large groups from coordinating well. Over time, they begin to grow impatient and suspicious of other groups within their own culture. Do they have the best plan, are they doing everything correctly to ensure victory?

It is this second guessing and uncertainty at the highest levels that leads to countless coups and juntas and revolts as different factions vie for control. They seem strangely oblivious to the reality of their circumstances and fail to realize the failings of the societal model, as doomed to fail. They endless try to build the sandcastle only to have the waves destroy it again and again.

Leaders are ever confident that they possess the skills and personal power to make the critical difference. They end up in a cycle of questing for personal glory and an honorable death. Their history is rife with heroic episodes against impossible odds, daring last stands and brave sacrifice to defeat enemies foreign and domestic. In fact triumph over other members of the Jaibok species is always more glorious. Everyone knows, only another Jaibok is a truly worthy opponent for the majesty of a great Jaibok warrior hero.

Vech (world) is the homeworld of the Jaibok aka Zerp. The latter is considered a slightly derogatory, slang racial slur. Most Jaibok couldn’t really care less, but it has served as enough of a provocation to start a fight. As if an excuse was necessary for them to take offense. This is apparently a genetically engineered, and modified species. There is some evidence to suggest this is an uplifted species. Many scientists suspect one of grandfather’s grandchildren is responsible. Many regard the experiment a partial failure. The Jaibok are convinced they are the pinnacle of artificial selection conducted by the ancients to produce the perfect warrior species. The purpose for this warrior species is unclear. It has been conjectured that they were built in the desperate, final days of the final war. More than 300,000 years ago, a period too short for the amount of genetic change to be the result of natural selection as it is traditionally understood. A few of the last grandchildren, knew grandfather wanted them all dead. He was keeping careful track. He had co-opted some children to annihilate other factions. Once the final solution was made clear to the last survivors, they became very reckless and desperate. Mad scientists, would be the closest cliché. They were using extra dimensional portal technology to cross vast distances beyond traditional jump technology. They started weaponizing aggressive species that their survey robots found. They sent these self-replicating probes off in every direction and whenever they encountered a life form they conducted fitness tests to see if it was a descent candidate for weaponization. Primitive Jaibok were aggressive carnivores, killers in their ecological niche. They were not the apex species, and relied on rapid reproduction to compensate for heavy predation. Much larger, truly monstrous consumers would graze on the Jaibok. Their numbers were kept in check and they were vital links in a complex food chain and food web populated by magnificent megafauna.

The probes established remote breeding stations and wild strains were collected and modified. Several generations were used to bring about the desired changes and essentially speciation. Artificial genetic sequencing installed the required traits and populations were allowed to breed up to a population worthy of cataclysmic galactic warfare as waged in the final days. Eventually, the war ended and the super weapons bereft a mission fought on to varying degrees as their programs and capabilities permitted.

Evidently the Jaibok were complete forgotten and overlooked. It is possible that their legions of warriors only saw limited deployment before it was all over. Now sentient sophonts with free will and abilities far beyond what they possessed a few short generations earlier these new beings sought to escape extinction. They turned their vessels into a fleet containing all the survivors of the war. Their exodus lead them on a frantic journey fleeing the ancient war machines built to exterminate this loose end. They made their way to a wormhole nexus. The last rebel ancients had been using to crisscross the galaxy. They ran to the farthest corner of the galaxy hoping to survive and possibly rebuild. Vech became their new home world. Unchecked and more dangerous than before their numbers exploded and overpopulation, which they were breed for, ideal in massed legions of warriors, proved to be a threat to their survival. They used their technology to reenter the long abandoned wormhole nexus. They mounted several assaults in the early galaxy. They harassed several developing civilizations. One fateful encounter was with the enigmatic Hivers. The raw aggression deep within their borders was quickly suppressed and deleted from history and records were efficiently purged.

The hivers realized the threat the Jaibok posed. So they couldn’t destroy the wormhole network, but the stations which allowed access were typically platforms floating in the clouds of non-descript gas giants. The hivers sent warbots into the network to destroy the platforms and a tailored virus was used to spread a plague of sorts. The genetic modifications targeted two aspects; it lowered their fecundity and second it made large groups above a few hundred thousand prone to disagreement. As populations swell internal conflicts and aggressor signals increase. Eventually these trigger fratricidal tendencies which serve to fragment the culture and prevent the species attacking and enslaving en masse. This serves as an important limiting factor on their civilization. Once they lost their access to the portal network they were stranded in their new home territory and only serve to menace a relatively small number of species versus the whole galaxy.

The Jaibok dominate the Korsumug Empire, a large interstellar polity. Several member worlds are kept technologically suppressed to prevent them from developing the ability to threaten their overlord masters.